Russell Volckmann Chapter Summary

On December 8, 1941 the Japanese Fourteenth Army, under the command of General Tomiyuki Yamashita conducted an assault on American forces stationed in the Philippines The Japanese Army had attacked Pearl Harbor and caught the entire Pacific Fleet off guard, not they had set their sights on the Philippines in a need to secure an outpost closer to the United States. During this attack and for three years after the Japanese has seized the island, CPT Russell Volckmann was forced into situations that required his leadership style and techniques to be dynamic in nature. By all accounts Russell Volckmann was considered an average infantry officer within his unit. Yet during his three years behind Japanese lines Russell Volckmann’s use of situational leadership allowed him to evaded a well supplied and reinforced army, united tribal leaders in northern Philippines, organized an effective guerrilla force, and conducted guerrilla operations that enabled the United States forces to seize the Philippines and ultimately denying the Japanese access to the island.
This book provides relevant leadership information and lesson learned when dealing with a volatile environment. It provides insight into how Volckmann approached each challenge and the
application of leadership techniques to overcome those challenges. Army leaders can learn valuable lesson on problem set that require thinking outside common situations.
To overcome these situations Volckmann knew he would need to take a different approach to his leadership style for each one. In the theory of situational leadership, Hersey and Blanchard state the theory “draws major views from contingency thinking, and as the name implies, leadership depends upon each individual situation and no single style can be considered best ” As an infantry officer, Volckmann understood what leadership style he needed to apply when his unit first made contact with Japanese forces. His style would need to change to keep his men alive when the Japanese overran the island in January of 1942. While evading, several of his men fell sick with malaria. Volckmann knew his leadership had to be translated to his behavior and his mind set to survive. If he had failed at this the consequences were severe. Many of Volckmann’s fellow officers and soldiers learned this during the Bataan death march that took American soldiers from the southern Philippines to northern Luzon .
Likewise, Volckmann had to adjust his leadership style again when he sought the support from the indigenous tribes in northern Philippines. The tribes had been at war with each other for years. Land disputes and rights to water way for farm irrigation was the catalyst of their conflict with each other. The Japanese had little concern for the tribes, after all, they were high in the north around Luzon, and that part of the Philippines interests them very little. Volckmann knew he had to unify them under one common cause and enemy. One or two tribes simply would not do. He needed a large pool of fighters to draw from if he was to inflict any real damage to the Japanese. To accomplish this Volckmann not only incentivized the offer to unite by promising land to those who fought against the Japanese, he also showed leadership in participating in the raids and attacks .
Once organized, the guerrilla force had to be trained and the attacks had to focused to make the most impact on the enemy.
Volckmann assessed that raids on the Japanese supply lines between camps would start to incite fear in the occupying forces while slowly leaving them isolated and vulnerable to larger guerrilla raids. This required him to adjust his leadership style again, in both vision and behavior. Volckmann was able to to change his style to adapt to each problem set. Volckmanns situation required him to assess each contributing factor of his problem and move from one style of leadership to another. Additionally, this had to be projected to the men in his maneuver elements, and often with a language barrier to complete
matters.
In conclusion, the environment forced Volckmann to apply different leadership styles as his situation changed around him. He knew that each problem set was unique with it’s own set of contributing factors that required a different styles and would continue to change with the environment around him. Likewise, Volckmann knew his leadership had to be projected in his behavior and action. By being able to understand these principles of situational leadership, Russell Volckmann was able to escape and evaded an overwhelming Japanese army, united warring tribal leaders in northern Philippines, organized and train a guerrilla force, that incited fear and uncertainty in the occupying Japanese forces, and assisted in the United States forces retaking the Philippines and ultimately denying the Japanese access to the island. The lessons learned in this book are unique to guerrilla warfare; however, every leader in the United States Army can learn from Volckmanns accomplishments and failures. I would strongly recommend this book for all leaders with a desire to view problems in an unconventional manner.